Reviews of music and some things that I like and don't like

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The Psyatics are a three-piece garage, surf and noise band from Las Vegas, Nevada. Formed in 2012, the current lineup consists of Rob Bell (bass guitar and vocals), Jack Ball (guitar) and Mark Baertschi (drums). The band plays a mix of Rock, Punk, Garage, Noise, and Surf Rock with feeling.

With a glance at the cover, and the titles of the songs, you can see that they have a fascination for the more overt strangeness that other bands skip over: monsters, serial killers and B-movies, and for that alone, I salute them. The band mixes up all the different styles and comes up with a sound that takes your head and wraps it in craziness and power that should hurt, but feels like the hot breath of the werewolf breathing on your neck, scary and raises the hair on your body with excitement. The songs are catchy, and play with an intensity that is infectious and will get you dancing, or at least jumping around, either way, you will not be able to stand still while listening to this album. “You Killed Me First” has a great mix of funk and Two-tone ska that I really dug. “Burnt Offerings” has a great surf sound with manic vocals that really stuck with me. The songs are played with rawness and without a tongue in cheek sense of humor that makes them sound more convincing. The band isn’t a joke band, they really do like these twisted and strange things and give them the respect and love that makes for repeated listens. The band has a rawness to them that makes the album sound dangerous and creepy, but still has the ability to make you an instant fan.

Their third album is a definite anomaly in the music world nowadays, not easy to pigeon-hole and filled with more giddy strangeness than you would think most people would want to perform, but these guys love it and it shows with every lick played. The band has hit one out of the park with this album and it isn’t a baseball, it’s a severed head.

This band was previously known as Vietcong Pornsurfers and as you can guess, not a very easy name to lookup online in a way, and a bit odd too, so new name, but same kick ass band. The good part is that the new name is the only thing changed, since the band who was known for great garagey, punkish rock’n’roll kept that and we thank you for that.

You get six songs on this EP, with a sound that mixes late ’70s/early ’80s punk and a touch of garage and glam and manages to sound better than KISS on “Ain’t Nothing For You.” Yes, they take the sound of KISS on that track and make one song better than KISS’ last two albums. The band slows down on “Yes I Can,” and “Hold Me,” and shows some restraint and almost a sweetness that was never there before….holy shades of maturing as a band! Luckily, those two songs are done well and fit perfectly into the scheme of things.

The album is played tight, mostly fast and gets the blood pumping. I just wish that they would get more music done and put it out, I hate waiting so long between releases.

This Birmingham, UK band has put out their debut album with nine tracks and two bonus songs on the CD of original 7″ single versions of “Crazy,” and “That Kind.” The band consists of Alan Byron (Guitar / Vocals), Darren Birch (Bass Guitar), and Dave Twist (Drums).

Starting off with an instrumental that turns into first song “That Kind,” the band lets you know that they are here to rock and rock they do! The spectre of the Stooges hangs over the band, but it doesn’t stop them from still being their own band. They take that sound and make it even more chaotic and ramshackle and it sounds amazing. The songs are gritty, catchy and to point. They hit hard, fast and get your ass shaking, exactly what rock music should do. The sound is thick, a bit muddy and dirty, but if it was scrubbed clean, this would be crappy corporate rock, not heartfelt and nowhere nearly as exciting as it is on here. “Nameless” sounds like the band is coming apart at the seams, but damn……..does it ever sound sweet.

This ain’t no pretty album, no sir, it’s filthy and grubby, angry and has issues, but you need to get this and crank it up. This is the sound of a band doing everything they can to stick together on the songs, everyone trying to destroy their instruments and I’m glad that punk rock gave bands like this a chance to tear into my ears.

This is the fourth collection in the highly successful LOOKING… series, and the series now takes a trip to the USA for its latest theme. The latest Looking set travels from uptempo R&B and Early Soul to Garage Punk, Northern, Frat Rock, Proto-Psych and wild instro’s. Paying homage to American Mod music from the Sixties. Beginning with turn-of-the-decade R&B, Frat Rock and Proto-Soul on Disc 1, a smattering of bonkers instrumentals, plenty of four-on-the-floor Northern Soul congregated on Disc 2, Nuggets-friendly fare on Disc 3 and tracks which flirt with Psychedelia as this four-hour soundtrack draws to a close. Many of the tracks here are drawn from the prestigious back catalogues of Challenge, Scepter/Wand, Etiquette, Swan, Shell, and Select, and a large number of those new to CD.

The three CDs are packed full of great songs that will get you dancing, wanting to bob your head and just plain rock out. You get some names that you’ve heard of, The Champs, Joe Tex, and Gene Vincent, but the real treat is in finding out new bands that you’ve never heard before and now love. The bad part of a collection like this, is that once you hear a band that you like, you now have to try to find more of their music, and that might be very difficult. The songs are a treat for someone who has never heard them before and has an interest in the more obscure tracks that are out there. The quality of the songs is amazing, with song after song of catchy and fun songs that work perfectly together. The compiler of this collection really did a great job finding these mostly underrated and hard to find songs where there is literally something for everyone, and no time to get bored because of the various styles mixed together on these three discs.

With great sound and a booklet full of stories about each of the songs, this is a collection that will keep you listening to it over and over again. This is a great way to hear songs that aren’t the typical, over-played songs from the time period and learn something new at the same time.

It’s a 22 track album featuring 22 different bands from Black Cat Records.
It’s a very good collection because each track is so unique, with smooth transitions to each track, it’s like one band did it entirely on their own, while incorporating different styles. So many different sounds are on here, from high energy, guitar heavy rock to more of a Latin feel, and more. Chris Murray Combo’s “Big Love” is very beachy, tropical sounding, it’s bouncy, it’s fun, and it’s smooth. All the vocals are clear, smooth, really pronounced, the music part of the tracks is well balanced, and there isn’t any competition between the vocals and music. It’s a fun album that gives you a taste of what all the bands are like. Almost all the tracks are high energy, not in your face, well one of them is borderline screamo, and the lyrics are all nice and clear so you can understand the words. Trashed Idols’ “Loveless” is a really fast paced, high energy song. Vic Ruggiero and Phil Nerges’ “Tampa Road” is a story song with a good story line, it reminds me of those old movies from the 60s. I think he’s telling a story, not so much in a song, but in words with music mixed in, it’s a really good track. The Darlings’ “Where Do We Go” is high energy, good balanced tempo, and I feel the passion, the power behind the song, it reminds me of the rocks songs from the 90s. King Django Quintet’s “Reason” has more of a Latin and something else feel to it, it’s high energy, and is fast paced lyrics. Its bouncy, it’s really good nightclub dance music; it has an urban feel to it. Hola Ghost’s “The Man They Couldn’t Hang” also have that Latin feel, it’s not as fast paced, but it does have a nice tempo none the less, and it’s dark sort of, but it’s a good story overall. David Hillyard and The Rocksteady 7’s “RNA” is more of a Latin jazz combo, it starts off slow, but it’s a nice slow, it lures you in by being smooth. It has a nice smooth trumpet that’s been muted to give it that nice Latin full sound, it’s a slow dance song that’s all instrumental, and it’s so good. It’s a nice outside dancing track.
All in all, a great collection of diverse music that is still cohesive and entertaining. Something on here for everyone and this will be played a lot.

This Louisville, KY trio play garage rock / punk on their self-titled, debut EP. It is six songs in around seventeen minutes of very cool DIY punk. Singer / guitarist Tony Esposito is joined by brothers Sam and Nick Wilkerson on bass and drums respectively.

The EP has a bit of JESUS & MARY CHAIN noise and early SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES sound mixed into their own delicious cacophony. “Cool” has tight riffs, intense percussion, and a chorus that is contagious. “Funn” is just as exciting, with the trio creating a huge sound and more excitement than you think could be had in one minute and forty-two seconds. “Half Bad” is a tight track with a great keyboard riff and shows that the band can bash their way through a fantastic mess the sounds fantastic. “She Wants To” is another blazing song that has energy to spare and just keeps you dancing around like a nut. “Conspirator” has a wall of sound that would put any low-fi band to shame, but the hooks are still there and makes this, like all of the other songs, so damn addictive. “Ohh (Yeah)” has a harder sound to it, but also has some relaxed playing that brings to mind the CLASH and how they mixed things up so well.

This band has so much energy and passion that it draws you in and won’t let you go for the sadly short running time of the EP. This is a band that definitely deserves to be watched because if this is a hint as to what they can do…watch out!

This is the Inspiral Carpets‘ legendary 1989 mail-order only cassette DUNG 4 on CD for the very first time ever. Originally issued on the band’s own Cow label, this tape was never issued on vinyl or CD and it contained unique songs as well as versions of tracks which were later re-recorded. It sold 8,000 cassettes and has the contents of their earlier demo EP Cow as bonus tracks.

Their debut single “Garage Full Of Flowers” is here in a totally different version, that’s fast and peppy. Their breakthrough single “Joe” is present with a spoken word intro from drummer Craig Gill that’s missing from the better known later version. There’s a version of ? And The Mysterians’ “96 Tears,” that was recorded before The Stranglers had a hit with it on their album 10. “Inside My Head” and “Seeds Of Doubt” are fast and hard-hitting songs, “Sun Don’t Shine” is a beautiful organ-led ballad that was later re-recorded for the band’s debut album Life. “Theme From Cow” is a short stab of organ-led pop that shows their garage roots. “Butterfly” is taken off the band’s second EP, Trainsurfing. as well as “Causeway.” “26” is a slower song that was written before vocalist Stephen Holt left the band. The four bonus tracks from the band’s previous Cow demo cassette capture a slightly harder Inspiral sound than you’re used to hearing. “Head For The Sun” is fast, and driven by Graham Lambert’s wild guitar playing. “Now You’re Gone” has the feel of ’60s psychedelia. “Whisky” is a fast organ based ode to drinking. The final “Love Can Never Lose Its Own” is another shot of ’60s psychedelia. The booklet has great pictures of posters and other bits of memorabilia from the era, plus comments from each band member. The sound has been improved on and sounds nice and clear, giving you the full experience of their earliest recordings.

Yes, the band became a big thing not long after this and for fans, it shows the roots of a band that just kept getting better. It stands as not a relic, but an insight to a band on the cusp of greatness.